“You guys wouldn’t get him, and I don’t feel like trying to explain him.”

They had pushed all summer until Rachel and Jessica decided to finally give up. The closest they’d come to information on Nicole’s boyfriend was a picture she showed them—a selfie of Nicole and Casey. They got some background one day when Nicole explained that Casey’s brother had been abducted when they were kids. Jessica and Rachel knew immediately to back off the issue. Nicole had a strange childhood that included a cousin who had also gone missing. The mysterious summer fling made more sense to them.

“Before we get too concerned about next summer,” Jessica said, “let’s concentrate on this weekend. We’re all still going to the beach party, right?”

“We have to go,” Rachel said. “It’s the unofficial end of summer in Emerson Bay. It’s a tradition.”

They waited until Nicole looked at them.

“What?” Nicole said.

“Are you going?”

“I guess.”

“What are you going to do when Casey doesn’t follow you to school?”

Nicole gave a fake smile. “I’ll deal.”

A boat cut through the water and drew its engine down as it entered the no-wake zone in front of Rachel’s house. They all shielded their eyes from the sun as they looked toward the water.

“It’s Matt,” Jessica said. “That’s another issue we need to discuss. Does Casey know you’re hooking up with him?”

“Ha! Matt’s too whipped by the princess to do much besides butterfly kisses. But I’ll break him. He’s a guy.” Nicole sat up from the patio chair and adjusted her bikini top. Took off her sunglasses and held them in front of her to admire her reflection in the lens.

“Tyler and Mike are with him.”

“Ah,” Nicole said in a pouty voice. “It was so cute the other day when they ambushed you on the boat and threw you in the bay. It had been such a boring summer for you guys. But now . . . summer bummer to summer hummer?”

“Gross,” Rachel said. She stood up and waved as Tyler and Mike jumped onto the dock and walked up the stairs toward Rachel’s pool.

“Ladies,” Tyler said.

“What’s up?” Rachel asked.

They wore swim trunks without shirts, their chests carrying a bronzed glow that suggested they’d been on the bay for most of the day.

“Wanted to make sure you guys were going to the beach party on Saturday.”

“Like we need an invitation from you guys?” Nicole said.

“We’re going,” Jessica said. “She’s crabby.”

“Matt too shy to talk to us?” Nicole asked.

“I don’t know,” Tyler said. “He’s being weird.”

Nicole stood and placed her smoothie on the table. “I’ll go see what his problem is.”

She sauntered down the stairs in her bikini and best seductive walk, knowing they were all watching her. She pranced along the dock and jumped onto the boat.

“You can’t come up to say hi to me?” she asked Matt, who was rearranging water skis and wetsuits in a floorboard compartment.

“Hi,” he said without looking at her. “Just stopped for a second because my boys have a thing for your friends.”

Nicole sat in the captain’s chair and playfully kicked Matt in the thigh as he knelt on the ground and wrestled with a wedged water ski.

“Give my offer any thought?”

Matt managed to free the ski and align it with the others, then shut the hatch and stood up. “What offer?”

Nicole cocked her head. “My offer from the other day, when you and I were all alone. . . .” She pointed below deck. “Right. Down. There.”

Matt grabbed a towel and dried his hands. He looked wholly disinterested. “You know something, Nicole? I can’t understand why you need so much attention. But offering someone sex is a stupid way to get it.”

Nicole swallowed hard when she heard his words, flashed her best persuasive grin to hide her embarrassment. “I figured you’re not getting any from your girlfriend, so I’d help you out.”

“Trying to convince me to cheat on my girlfriend is not the best way to get noticed. Do something original, Nicole. Then people will pay attention to you.”

She stood up. “I thought you said you didn’t have a girlfriend.”

“Things change.”

“Really? Megan McDonald?”

“Why do you care?”

“She’s so not your type.”

“You don’t know my type.”

“I used to, because I was your type.”

“We dated last year, Nicole. Let’s get over it.”

“I was your type the other day.” Nicole came up to him and put her hands around his waist. “I promise you, she’s not going to give you what I can.”

Matt grabbed her wrists and squeezed with his powerful forearms. “I’m scared to find out what you’d give me, and so are most of my friends.”

Nicole tried hard to hide the pain he was causing in her wrists. “Let go of me.”

“That’s what everyone thinks about you, you know that? That you’ve become an STD-spreading slut. Slutty Cutty they call you.”

“You’re an asshole.”

“And you’re a whore.” Matt pushed her away. “Get off my boat.”

Nicole smiled. It looked forced and fake, worse than the last one. “You know what’s going to be really funny? When I have a little talk with the princess about what happened between us right down there.” She pointed below deck again. “I’m sure your Duke romance will flourish when she hears that you couldn’t get your hands off me, or your tongue out of my mouth.”

Now Matt smiled casually. His was better than Nicole’s, more convincing as he walked slowly toward her. In one quick move like he’d used hundreds of times on the wrestling mat, he grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her face to within an inch of his.

“Talk to Megan, and you’re going to see a side of me you’ve never known.” He pushed her away again. “Now get off my boat.”

The fake smile came back to her face, and she used the backs of her hands to wipe her tears. “You’re such a loser.”

She hurried up the dock, passing Tyler and Mike, who took awkward glances at her on the way by.

PART V

“People know me as the girl from my book, or as the girl

from before the abduction. I’m neither anymore.”

—Megan McDonald

CHAPTER 34

October 2017

Thirteen Month’s Since Megan’s Escape

It was Friday before Livia could get back to Emerson Bay. As Megan sat in the passenger seat while they headed to West Bay, the horizon seared with the last efforts of the setting sun.

“Who is this guy?” Megan asked.

“A piece of work,” Livia said. “The problem is, he might be useful.”

Earlier in the week Livia had caught Megan up on her findings from the evidence room—the green fiber match to Casey Delevan’s clothing, and the missing fork that Ted Kane had expertly identified as the tool used to end his life. Both findings created a link between Casey and Nicole on the night she was taken. By association, the findings had snared Megan as well.

Livia pulled through the light when it turned green, turned onto a side street a few minutes later, and stopped the car in front of the dilapidated house she had visited two weeks before.

“Useful how?” Megan asked.

“Here’s the thing,” Livia said. “When we go to your dad, I want ammunition. We’ve got the ketamine and the fibers and the missing fork. But for your dad to get on board, I need more. I need to convince him that Casey Delevan was taking girls.”

“You mean Nancy Dee?”

“Maybe others, too.”

“Other girls? Who?”

Livia pointed to the house. “I’m hoping to find out tonight.”

They climbed out of the car and knocked on the rickety screen door. Daisy went wild, barking and clawing. Nate Theros held her at bay while he cracked open the door.

“Nate. It’s Livia Cutty.”

Nate smiled as he stared past Livia.

Livia followed his glance. “This is Megan McDonald.”

His eyes unblinking, Nate carried the starstruck grin of a fan meeting his favorite movie star.

“Maybe you should put Daisy away,” Livia said, interrupting Nate’s moment as he gawked and grinned at Megan. “So we can talk?”

“Yeah,” Nate said, nodding. “I’ll be right back.”

While Nate dragged Daisy to her crate, Livia spoke over the barking. “This guy was a member of the club I told you about. The one that studied missing persons cases. He’s enamored of your presence. You’re as famous as they get.”

Megan raised her eyebrows. “I’m flattered.”

“Just bear with me. I promised him you’d be here to sign a copy of your book and answer some questions for him. It’s the only way he’d agree to talk.”

Nate was back a minute later. “You guys wanna come in?” he asked, oblivious to the many things that would prevent two women from entering his house. Like that they were in West Bay at dusk, with a muddy purple sky just ahead of Halloween. Or that his T-shirt did nothing to contain the tattoos that traced his arms and neck. Or that the giant hoop earrings that weighted down his earlobes shouted bad intentions and mischief.

“No, thanks,” Livia said. “Let’s talk on the porch.”

“Yeah, sure.” Nate walked onto the front patio and put a cigarette between his lips. “Hey,” he said to Megan.

“Hi.”